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“Because you can't buy happiness... but you can buy whisky and that's pretty much the same thing”

Read stories about Yamazaki of A Wardrobe of Whisky blog.

You can read here older articles posted in A Wardrobe of Whisky since 2009.
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Japanase whiskies #FT

By Miguel in Tasting , Yoichi , Yamazaki , Miyagikyo

Japanese whisky is something that makes you wonder why you didn’t discovered it before… they are damn good whiskies, they are all you want from a single malt and much as their Scotch cousins they are increasing their prices quite fast. Here we have a Yamazaki 18 years old, Hibiki 12 years old, Miyagikyo 10 years old, Yoichi 12 years old and Yamazaki 12 years old.

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Another post for the Fucking thief. Stealing other persons’ whisky so you can know about it. Is this your photo? Write me to fthief@awardrobeofwhisky.com and I will pay you… homage… and share with A Wardrobe of Whisky’s readers your experience on the tasting. Slainte!

Let’s review them, but let me do the tasting in a different order.

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Yamazaki Puncheon 2013

By Miguel in Tasting , Yamazaki

Yamazaki has released their range of single malts recently and here it is my tasting of the Puncheon bottle. If you, like me, are wondering what the hell is a Puncheon, it is a cask of around 480 litres, double the size of a hogshead but smaller that a butt. That means that the whisky will age slower in this bigger casks.

“Cracking stuff! Assaulted by surprise... it is an amazing whisky even with that price tag”

90
Yamazaki Puncheon 2013

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (88): more than average. honey, vanilla, toffee, citrus, cinnamon.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, spices, cinnamon, wood, vanilla, citrus.

Finish (91): longer than average. honey, fruits, vanilla.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Yamazaki Puncheon 2013 with 90 points over 100.

Miguel says…

The whisky is quite nice but I think that the price is a f$%$#@ joke. I can’t afford to pay over £100 for a whisky one month and another… what used to be an exception is nowadays the rule… bad days we live.
PS: It is slightly cheaper on The Whisky Exchange… but still…


WTF 005: From Islay to Heaven

By Miguel in Tasting , Glenkinchie , Yamazaki , Bruichladdich

May your whisky never runs out my friend! Unless you are drinking Johnnie Walker, if you are please… let me pour something better on your glass…

Lagavulin+from+Bay_MediumRes

This is not a proper What the F*** tasting session with blind samples, but I just got from my evil box stuff that I wanted to drink. Particularly there were two whiskies I have a huge interest in tasting: Yamazaki 10 years old… I still remember when I could buy bottles of this one at £17… and Octomore 10 years old. As you know I collect whisky and I had my chance of buying this Octomore for it RRP… but still £150 was quite high for such a whisky… Did I go wrong with it?

Time to drink!

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Yamazaki 12 years old: So good it doesn't feel real

By Miguel in Tasting , Yamazaki

“Awesome japanese whisky on the budget range. Really love how complex it is and its fruity character. There are not many Scotch whiskies so good at this price”

91
Suntory Yamazaki 12 year
'A pioneering malt in Japan, for which Suntory deserve great credit. In its early days, it was rounded and delicate...now it is more intense, confident and elegant. 8/10' Michael Jackson, Whisky Magazine, Oct 2002

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (91): strong. honey, floral, wood, fruity, pears, spices, cinnamon, vanilla. Simply amazing! It's hard to believe it is only 12 years old.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, spices, vanilla, wood, cinnamon, cocoa, pepper.

Finish (90): longer than average. honey, floral, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Suntory Yamazaki 12 year with 91 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

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Yamazaki 18 years old: Suntory sherry monster

By Miguel in Tasting , Yamazaki

“Superb sherried stuff. Perfect cask with a delightful note of sulphur, and no, I am not drunk! I love this whisky!”

91
Suntory Yamazaki 18 year
A wonderful example of what Japanese whisky is capable of. We absolutely love this. Extremely smooth, with great complexity and a lovely balance of fruit, silky malt and a touch of smoke.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (91): more than average. nuts, honey, varnish, citrus, floral. Stunning nose! A legendary sherry monster!

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, nuts, a little sulphur, leather, citrus, wood, floral. In this whisky the sulphur note is even a positive thing. I like how it works there.

Finish (91): longer than average. honey, nuts, pepper.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Suntory Yamazaki 18 year with 91 points over 100.

Japanese delights: Tasting Suntory Yamazaki, Hakushu, Hibiki and Nikka Taketsuru

By Miguel in Tasting , Featured , Nikka , Suntory , Yamazaki , Hakushu , Hibiki

After all the buzz with Whisky Show 2012, I was desperately in need of more good whisky. I have sorted all my samples in a very nice way, which allows me to grab all of them easily for vertical tastings.

Yeah, very nice, but when you just want to have a few drams it doesn’t look such a good decision. I have still to think about how to sort them in a better way. ( Any ideas btw? )

I have take thirteen japanese single malts and blended whiskies to taste. They have been there in a box around three months for me to find a few spare hours to taste them. Well, today is the day!.

suntory-yamazaki-nikka-taketsuru-tasting-whisky

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WhiskyLive Madrid 2011 Tastings

By Miguel in Tasting , News , Featured , Destilerias Liber , Laphroaig , DYC , The Macallan , Compass Box , Suntory , Yamazaki , Edradour , Talisker

WhiskyLive Madrid 2011 celebrated at May, 26 on Hotel Villamagna, has been a great whisky show against all the odds: Great whisky, pretty girls, good friend. Whatelse?!

Touching a bottle of Macallan 25 years old at Macallan Masterclass in WhiskyLive MadridFinally I got time to write down the tasting notes and here they are. I am quite happy of the result. The whisky show has been great and I tried lots of expressions that it is not easy to taste here in Spain.

During the evening at WhiskyLive Madrid, that I spent with Richard Barr of WhiskyIsrael, we tasted more than twenty whiskies so bear with me if last tasting notes are not accurate.
If you haven’t read yet about our visit to WhiskyLive do it now!. We had a great evening together.

So here are the tasting notes. I am still missing some of them that I wasn’t able to properly write while on the show.

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WhiskyLive Madrid 2011: A whisky show at Spain's heart

By Miguel in News , Featured , Destilerias Liber , Laphroaig , Lagavulin , DYC , Cardhu , St George , The Macallan , Compass Box , Glenfiddich , Highland Park , Bowmore , Suntory , Yamazaki , Redbreast , Edradour , Talisker

Taking place at the Madrid business center, at the Hotel Villamagna, this whisky fair, although small, has been really interesting with lots of surprises.

Hotel Villa Magna at Madrid

Before attending the show, I meet Richards Barr, a member of Whiskyisrael that was also attending the show and we went there together after having a tasty Spanish lunch.
Richard Barr and Miguel Angel Blanch after 25 drams of whisky at Whiskylive Madrid

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Suntory Yamazaki 12 years old Tasting note

By Miguel in Tasting , Recommended , Suntory , Yamazaki
91
Suntory Yamazaki 12 year
'A pioneering malt in Japan, for which Suntory deserve great credit. In its early days, it was rounded and delicate...now it is more intense, confident and elegant. 8/10' Michael Jackson, Whisky Magazine, Oct 2002

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (93): more than average. sweet, spices, pepper, floral, fruits.

Palate (90): smooth, oily, powerful. sweet, floral, spices, wood, peaches.

Finish (90): long. sweet, wood, spices, fruits, mango.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Suntory Yamazaki 12 year with 91 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:



Made in Japan: Rising sun whisky

By Miguel in News , Featured , Yoichi , Nikka , Suntory , Yamazaki , Chichibu , Hanyu , Miyagikyo

Japan flag

Japan started creating whisky just around 1870 but since then they have produced some of the best single malts whiskies. The secret? Extreme care for details


Help Japan! Please donate to your local branch of the Red Cross

Japanese whisky was first commercialized by Yamazaki in 1924. At first Japanese struggle to create the most similar whisky possible to Scottish whisky but they have now discovered that their own style, similar to Speyside whiskies, of whisky is incredible good.

Suntory and Nikka

Japan whisky is dominated by two giant brands: Nikka and Suntory.

Suntory

Shinjiro Torii was a pharmaceutical wholesaler and founder of Kotobukiya. He imported western liquor and created a brand called Akadana Port Wine which made him a successful merchant.
He embarked in a new venture: making Japanese whisky for japanese people. Despite the opposition of the company executives, Torii decided to build the first distillery in Yamazaki, a suburb of Kyoto, an area famous for its waters.

Torii hided Masataka Taketsuru as distillery executive. Taketsuru had been studying the art of distilling whisky in Scotland and brought this knowledge back to Japan. He played a central role in helping Torii establish Yamazaki.

In 1929, Suntory introduced Suntory Shirofuda (Japanese for “white label”), Japan’s first genuine domestically produced whisky. Kakubin (“square bottle”), a premium Japanese whisky, was born in 1937.

With the introduction of Hakushu in 1973, Suntory developed an several varieties of malt whiskies and brought to market such products as Yamazaki single malt whisky, Hakushu and Hibiki blended whisky.

Nikka

In 1934 Taketsuru left Yamazaki to create his own company: Dainippon Kaju which would later change its name to Nikka. He decided to establish the Yoichi distillery in Hokkaido.

Yoichi produces rich, peaty and masculine malt. The whisky gets its distinct aroma and body from direct heating distillation, in which the pot stills are heated with finely powdered natural coal -the traditional method that is hardly ever used today, even in Scotland.

The Miyagikyo Distillery is also in northern Japan, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Honshu. Traveling in the area one day, Masataka came upon this site completely enclosed by mountains and sandwiched between two rivers. He immediately knew that this was the perfect site for whisky distilling. Sendai’s fresh water, suitable humidity and crisp air produce soft and mild malt.

Most relevant distilleries

There are nowdays ten whisky distilleries in Japan, most relevant here in Western world are:

Suntory Yamazaki

Located in Shimamoto, Osaka, owned by Suntory. It was opened in 1923 and was Japan’s first whisky distillery.

Suntory Hakushu

Suntory built another distillery in Hakushu at the foot of Mt. Kaikomagatake in the Southern Japan Alps.

Nikka Yoichi

About 50km west of Sapporo City in southern Hokkaido, which is the northernmost of Japan’s four principal islands.

Nikka Sendai or Miyagikyo

It is also in northern Japan, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Honshu.

Hanyu

In 1980, serious attempts to produce a Scotch Whisky-type product began and two pot stills were obtained. At the time, consumer demand was for blended whisky rather than single malt. Obviously since then there has been a worldwide shift towards single malts and in 1990 Chichibu whisky was launched, named after the place where the sake was originally produced. However, single malts require such a long maturation period that conditions were tough commercially.Ownership changed hands and the new management decided to get rid of the stocks of maturing malts and the distillation facilities.

Karuizawa

Karuizawa was actually a vineyard in 1955 when then-owner Daikoku-budoshu decided to enter a Japanese whisky industry still in its infancy, and base a distillery in the shadow of active volcano, Mount Asama. In 1962, it then merged with current owner, Mercian.

The distillery is tiny and the aim is traditional, small-scale production to create quality whiskies. Karuizawa uses 100% Golden Promise barley, wooden washbacks, small stills and sherry casks sourced from Spain.

Ichiro / Chichibu

Fortunately, a sake maker from northern Japan, Sasanokawa Shuzo, came to the rescue of Hanyu Distillery and agreed to take over the stocks and production facilities at this critical time. Subsequently Ichiro Akuto, the grandson of the founder of the Hanyu Distillery, established a new company called Venture Whisky to again produce single malt whisky.

Blended Japanese whisky

Until fairly recent, Japanese whisky market has been domestic. Blended Japanese whisky is produced in a different ways than Scotch blended whisky. While in Scotland different brands trade their whiskies stocks to create new profiles, in Japan each brand owns its own distilleries and their blended malts contains only whisky from their portfolio of distilleries, giving them a shorted palette to create blended whisky.

Japanese whisky from my collection

Nikka

Yoichi and Miyagikyo


Nikka blends


Suntory

Yamazaki, Hakushu and Hibiki